(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a pivotable conveyor coupling for pivotally connecting conveyor sections. More particularly the present invention pertains to an air conveyor for conveying bottles, the conveyor having pivotable couplings joining conveyor sections thereby allowing the conveyor sections to be pivoted relative to one another.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
An air conveyor is useful for the rapid transport of plastic bottles between work stations as, for example, between a storage station and a bottle-filling station. Typically, the known air conveyor includes a pair of flanges spaced to define an elongated slot therebetween, and a series of air ducts or air jets on opposite sides of the slot. Plastic bottles are formed with annular rims adjacent the tops of their necks. With the bottle necks extending through the slot and the rims overlying the spaced flanges, the bottles are suspended from the flanges and hang below the slot. Pressurized air from the ducts is directed in streams toward the bottles. The bottles move through the slot as a result of the force of the air streams against the bottles with the rims sliding along the spaced flanges in a frictional engagement.
Some prior art air conveyors have been constructed with means for diverting bottle containers from an input conveyor to a selected one of several output conveyors. Similarly, air conveyors have been constructed with means for joining a selected one of several input conveyors to an output conveyor. However, these prior art air conveyor systems lack means for freely moving different segments of the conveyor relative to one another to selectively change the path of the conveyor.